Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/14—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/36—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
  • G09G5/39—Control of the bit-mapped memory
  • G09G5/391—Resolution modifying circuits, e.g. variable screen formats
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06T—IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
  • G06T3/00—Geometric image transformations in the plane of the image
  • G06T3/40—Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06T—IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
  • G06T3/00—Geometric image transformations in the plane of the image
  • G06T3/40—Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
  • G06T3/4053—Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting based on super-resolution, i.e. the output image resolution being higher than the sensor resolution
  • G06T3/4076—Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting based on super-resolution, i.e. the output image resolution being higher than the sensor resolution using the original low-resolution images to iteratively correct the high-resolution images
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/14—Display of multiple viewports
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
  • H04N21/426—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/44—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
  • H04N21/44004—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
  • H04N5/44—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
  • H04N5/46—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards for receiving on more than one standard at will
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N7/00—Television systems
  • H04N7/01—Conversion of standards, e.g. involving analogue television standards or digital television standards processed at pixel level
  • H04N7/0117—Conversion of standards, e.g. involving analogue television standards or digital television standards processed at pixel level involving conversion of the spatial resolution of the incoming video signal
  • H04N7/0122—Conversion of standards, e.g. involving analogue television standards or digital television standards processed at pixel level involving conversion of the spatial resolution of the incoming video signal the input and the output signals having different aspect ratios
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/14—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
  • G06F3/1423—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
  • G06F3/1431—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display using a single graphics controller
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2320/00—Control of display operating conditions
  • G09G2320/08—Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2340/00—Aspects of display data processing
  • G09G2340/04—Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
  • G09G2340/0407—Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2340/00—Aspects of display data processing
  • G09G2340/04—Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
  • G09G2340/0464—Positioning
  • G09G2340/0485—Centering horizontally or vertically
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/443—OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
  • H04N21/4431—OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB characterized by the use of Application Program Interface [API] libraries
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/462—Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
  • H04N21/4622—Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/482—End-user interface for program selection
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N9/00—Details of colour television systems
  • H04N9/64—Circuits for processing colour signals
  • H04N9/642—Multi-standard receivers

Definitions

• This disclosure relates generally to the field of display technology. More particularly, this disclosure relates to a technique for setting an executing application's display buffer size based, at least in part, on the type of information that application indicates it will display.
• the application does not assume that the display device overscans it may generate an output matching the display device's full extent. If the display device does not overscan, the application will use it's full extent. Now, however, if the display device does overscan some of the application's output will be clipped. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a mechanism to dynamically set the display region used by an application based, at least in part, on the application's type of output. Summary
• a display method in accordance with a first embodiment includes determining one or more characteristics of a display device. Illustrative characteristics include the display device's display extent and whether the device overscans its input. An executing application may then indicate its desired display mode. In a first illustrative display mode the application does not compensate for overscanning; expecting the supporting environment to take care of these chores. In a second illustrative mode the application pre-compensates for the expected overscanning.
• the application provides content that may be cropped by overscanning without affecting the application's performance and content that should not be cropped.
• the application may place the second type of content in a "display safe" region of its display buffer.
• one or more display buffer characteristics may be sent to the executing application based at least in part on the display mode and at least one of the display device characteristics.
• the application may use these characteristics to define the size of its display buffer. For example, in one mode the application may be told to set its display buffer to a size that is less (i.e., smaller) than a frame buffer used to drive the display device.
• the application can pre-compensate its display output by writing only to the smaller display buffer.
• the application may be given two size values; the first representing the display device's full extent and a small value indicating a region within the display buffer that is "display safe.”
• Figure 1 illustrates a display region having an inset region and an overscan area in accordance with one embodiment.
• Figure 2 shows an operational timeline for a display operation in accordance with one embodiment.
• Figure 3 shows, in block diagram form, actions performed on an application's display buffer content based on the application's designated display mode in accordance with one embodiment.
• Figure 4 shows, in flowchart form, a display operation in accordance with one embodiment.
• Figure 5 shows, in flowchart form, a display mode determination method in accordance with one embodiment.
• Figure 6 shows, in block diagram form, an operational environment in accordance with one embodiment.
• Figure 7 shows, in block diagram form, an illustrative computer system that may be used to implement one or more operations in accordance with this disclosure.
• This disclosure pertains to systems, methods, and computer readable media for dynamically setting an executing application's display buffer size.
• an application may address the overscan display issue in one of three ways: (1) ignore it; (2) pre-compensate by limiting the area in a display buffer that it uses to store information it wants displayed; and (3) use a display device's full extent while restricting the location of information it does not want "clipped" to a region in its display buffer that may be reliably viewed.
• the size of an application's display buffer, and the tasks performed when moving the contents of that display buffer to a frame buffer may be based not only on the extent of the target display device, but on how the application intends to address the overscan issue (i.e., the type of information to be displayed). More particularly, once a display device's characteristics are determined (e.g., its extent), the executing application may be told to set its display buffer size to different values based on the manner in which it indicates it wants to address the overscan issue. [0013] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the inventive concept.
• display region 100 in accordance with the 720p standard has an extent measuring 1,280 pixels by 720 pixels; inset region 105 may have 'X' pixels in the horizontal direction and ⁇ ' pixels in the vertical direction, such a region defining overscan area 110.
• operational timeline 200 for a display operation in accordance with this disclosure shows the communication between executing application 205, display control 210, and display device 215.
• display control may refer to one or more software modules and/or select hardware of an operational environment within which application 205 executes. Initially display control 210 queries display device 215 (220) to obtain its display characteristics (225). In another embodiment, display device 215 may affirmatively "push” its display characteristics to display control 210. At some later time, application 205 informs display control 210 of its display mode (230). In response, display control 210 may tell application 205 the size it should make its display buffer (235).
• display control 210 may tell application 205 to make its display buffer 1280 x 720.
• display control 210 may tell application 205 to make its display buffer 1216 x 684.
• display control 210 may tell application 205 to make its display buffer 1280 x 720.
• the reduced display buffer size identified in Table 1 (1216 x 684) - corresponding to inset region 105 - is merely illustrative, the exact dimensions being dependent upon the display device itself and/or on any rue the designer desires to implement for overscan compensation (e.g., a flat 5% along both horizontal and vertical directions).
• display control 210 may perform the action (245) designated in Table 1 as it passes the display buffer's contents to display device 215 (250).
• mode 1 application 205 does nothing to address overscan operations by display device 215.
• display control 210 may take the application's display buffer content and scale it to correspond to inset region 105.
• the scaled display buffer content is placed, and centered, into the display device's frame buffer with a black border. (It will be recognized that placing content into a frame buffer is tantamount to sending that content to a display device. Generally, the transfer of data from a frame buffer to a display device is handled by hardware.)
• mode 2 application 205 has pre-compensated for the overscan operation of display device 215.
• display control 210 may simply copy the application's display buffer content into the center of the frame buffer and again provide a black border.
• mode 3 (FIG. 3C)
• application 205 uses the display device's full extent, only this time the application itself has ensured content that should not be clipped is in a buffer region that will not get clipped during overscan operations of display device 215.
• display control 210 may again simply copy the application's display buffer content into the frame buffer - this time, no black border need be provided.
• display operation 400 begins by obtaining a display device's display characteristics (block 405). Such information may be obtained directly from the display device itself, or it may be obtained from a data store (e.g., a database) that is either local or distal to display control 210 (e.g., accessed through a computer network such as the Internet).
• a data store e.g., a database
• display control 210 e.g., accessed through a computer network such as the Internet.
• the application is told how large to make its display buffer (block 415). In one embodiment, if an application does not indicate a preferred display mode, a default mode may be automatically selected (e.g., mode 1).
• a default mode may be automatically selected (e.g., mode 1).
• the application begins to send display buffer content (block 420), that content is manipulated and sent to a frame buffer based on the application's display mode (block 425).
• FIG. 5 Acts in accordance with block 425, in which the possible display modes and operational characteristics are as shown in Table 1 , are illustrated in FIG. 5.
• display mode 1 has been selected (the "YES” prong of block 500)
• the application's display buffer content may be scaled to fit within the display device's inset region 105 (see FIG. 1) and centered in the frame buffer with a black border (block 505).
• the display mode is not mode 1 (the "NO" prong of block 500)
• a check may be made to determine if display mode 2 has been selected. If it has (the "YES" prong of block 510), the application's display buffer content may be copied directly to the center of the frame buffer and a black border provided (block 515).
• the application's display buffer may be copied directly to the frame buffer (block 520). While FIG. 2 shows, in flowchart form, what was discussed above vis-a-vis Table 1 and FIG. 3, the number of modes and specific actions is entirely up to the designer.
• illustrative operational environment 600 is seen to include user space 605, framework space 610, graphics space 615, kernel space 620, and hardware space 625.
• application 630 in user space 605 communicates with display mode control 635 through an application
• display mode control 635 communicates with components in graphics space 615 via an API.
• API programming interface
• display mode control 635 effectively/functionally communicates with frame buffer 640 and display device 645.
• data store 650 and communication with computer network 655 and distal data store 660.
• Display mode control 635 could, for example, consist of one or more software modules that execute at the framework space level. By way of calls through an API to graphics space 615, display mode control 635 mediates the transfer of display buffer content from application 630 to frame buffer 640 (and hence, to display device 625).
• the functionality of display mode control 635 e.g., computer program code
• framework space 610 framework space 610, graphics space 615, and kernel space 620.
• user space 605, framework space 610, graphics space 615 and kernel space 620 are typically embodied in computer program code executing in memory, wherein the different spaces may represent different abstract levels of operation.
• application 630 includes memory (within user space 605) designated as a display buffer.
• display device 645 is shown as a standard computer display unit (e.g., part of a desktop computer system), this is not necessary.
• display device 645 could be incorporated within a portable device such as a notebook or tablet computer as well as a hand-held unit such as a mobile telephone or personal music/video player.
• device 700 may represent a desktop, notebook or tablet computer system. Device 700 may also represent hand-held devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants and personal music/video units. As illustrated, device 700 may include processor 705, display 710, user interface 715, graphics hardware 720, device sensors 725 (e.g., proximity sensor/ambient light sensor, accelerometer and/or gyroscope), microphone 730, one or more audio codecs 735, one or more speakers 740, communications circuitry 745, digital image capture unit 750, one or more video codecs 755, memory 760, one or more storage devices storage device 765, and communications bus 770.
• processor 705 display 710, user interface 715, graphics hardware 720
• device sensors 725 e.g., proximity sensor/ambient light sensor, accelerometer and/or gyroscope
• microphone 730 e.g., proximity sensor/ambient light sensor, accelerometer and/or gyroscope
• audio codecs 735 e.g., microphone
• Processor 705 may execute instructions necessary to carry out or control the operation of many functions performed by device 700 (e.g., such as operations in accordance with FIG. 4). Processor 705 may, for instance, drive display 710 and receive user input from user interface 715. User interface 715 may allow a user to interact with device 700 and can take a variety of forms such as a button, keypad, dial, a click wheel, keyboard, display screen and/or a touch screen. Processor 705 may also, for example, be a system-on-chip such as those found in mobile devices and include a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU).
• GPU dedicated graphics processing unit
• Processor 705 may be based on reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) or complex instruction-set computer (CISC) architectures or any other suitable architecture and may include one or more processing cores.
• Graphics hardware 720 may be special purpose computational hardware for processing graphics and/or assisting processor 705 process graphics information.
• graphics hardware 720 may include a programmable graphics processing unit (GPU).
• Sensor and camera circuitry 750 may capture still and video images that may be processed, at least in part, by video codecs 755 and/or processor 705 and/or graphics hardware 720, and/or a dedicated image processing unit incorporated within circuitry 750. Images so captured may be stored in memory 760 and/or storage 765.
• Memory 760 may include one or more different types of media used by processor 705 and graphics hardware 720 to perform device functions.
• memory 760 may include memory cache, read-only memory (ROM), and/or random access memory (RAM).
• Storage 765 may store media (e.g., audio, image and video files), computer program instructions or software, preference information, device profile information, and any other suitable data.
• Storage 765 may include one more non-transitory storage mediums including, for example, magnetic disks (fixed, floppy, and removable) and tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs and digital video disks (DVDs), and
• Memory 760 and storage 765 may be used to tangibly retain computer program instructions or code organized into one or more modules and written in any desired computer programming language. When executed by, for example, processor 705 such computer program code may implement one or more of the methods described herein. It will also be understood that processor 705 may represent one or more processing units communicatively coupled.
• EPROM Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory
• EEPROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
• display mode control 635 could simply pass the executing application's display buffer contents directly to frame buffer 640. In effect, this implements operations in accordance with mode 3 (application display buffer content is copied directly to the frame buffer).

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Computer Graphics (AREA)
• Controls And Circuits For Display Device (AREA)
• User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
• Digital Computer Display Output (AREA)

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• 2012
  • 2012-02-08 US US13/368,464 patent/US9013512B2/en active Active
• 2013
  • 2013-01-31 KR KR1020147024267A patent/KR101636187B1/ko active IP Right Grant
  • 2013-01-31 WO PCT/US2013/023993 patent/WO2013119446A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2013-01-31 CN CN201380008545.0A patent/CN104272245B/zh active Active
  • 2013-01-31 EP EP13703501.0A patent/EP2798453B1/de active Active
  • 2013-01-31 JP JP2014556577A patent/JP5898787B2/ja active Active
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